# Is there any children's programming with depth? Or at least a modicum of charm? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 8, 2013, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-childrens-programming-with-depth-or-at-least-a-modicum-of-charm/668359 "2013-09-08T22:12:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![April\_R](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@April\_R](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/April_R)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2013, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-childrens-programming-with-depth-or-at-least-a-modicum-of-charm/668359/61 "2013-09-11T16:29:10Z")
> [@puddleglum](#): > > In descending order of quality Gravity Falls, Phineas and Ferb, Fetch with Ruff Ruffman, and Wild Kratts. Gravity Falls is creepy…:eek: ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2013, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-childrens-programming-with-depth-or-at-least-a-modicum-of-charm/668359/62 "2013-09-11T18:28:00Z")
Thanks for the recs folks-it may be that my sister and her hubbie might not be very discriminating, just turn on a kid’s show and leave them to their own devices. ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2013, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-childrens-programming-with-depth-or-at-least-a-modicum-of-charm/668359/63 "2013-09-12T19:15:17Z")
> [@April\_R](#): > > I love Word Girl. Very humorous > > I hate Kids Next Door I’m not too fond of a lot of their one-off episodes (especially the earlier ones), but KND had the weirdest talent for taking the stupidest and strangest concepts and making the most compelling, complex, and interesting multi-season plots around them. ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2013, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-childrens-programming-with-depth-or-at-least-a-modicum-of-charm/668359/64 "2013-09-12T23:01:52Z")
There is some older children’s programming that is surprisingly deep or that has something there that adults might like. Obvious examples I can recall: 1. Noozles. Old Nickelodeon cartoon about this little girl whose toys come alive. The difference here is that the “toys” are actually scientists from a parallel dimension and were sent here to warn humans that their dimension and our own were going to collide. The toy thing is just their species form of hibernation. There’s also a side-theme of civil rights because the laws in many (all?) of the inhabited areas in the other dimension treat humans like crap. 2. Mysterious Cities of Gold. “Steampunk” type story shown on Nickelodeon in the 80’s that takes place in the 16th century amidst the Spanish quest for gold, more gold, and also maybe a little gold on the side. The natives of the Americas are actually the remnants of an advanced civilization that destroyed themselves in war. Oh, and some of the technology is still available. Olmecs with phasers and all that. Guess what the final “secret” of the City of Gold, the secret that the ancient civilization wanted to preserve and pass down to the present day, is? Nuclear power. It’s also implied that the “weapons of the sun” that were used at the end of the catastrophic war were H-bombs, given the narrative and the fact that the sun uses nuclear fusion. ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2013, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-childrens-programming-with-depth-or-at-least-a-modicum-of-charm/668359/65 "2013-09-12T23:09:17Z")
> [@robert\_columbia](#): > > … > > 1. Mysterious Cities of Gold… Also, MCoG is also interesting in that one of the Native characters who ends up being part of the hero team goes the entire story wearing what looks like a Native American-styled version of a girl’s dress or gown even though he is a boy. Nobody in the story thinks this is unusual in any way, which indicates that the writers or artists may have realized that gender distinctions in dress are very culture-specific and 20th (or even 19th) century Anglo standards simply would not apply in any meaningful way in this sort of story. ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2013, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-childrens-programming-with-depth-or-at-least-a-modicum-of-charm/668359/66 "2013-09-12T23:24:19Z")
One Canadian show I fondly remember is Avonlea. At some level it looks like another vapid sitcom but with Victorian costumes and a vaguely-Cape Cod/New England fishing village-esque setting, but it had a surprising number of “very special episode” type stories that weren’t that cheesy. Iirc there was a plot about a girl who loved a boy and the boy ended up getting seriously injured and ended up disabled. There was a plot about immigration and cultural adaptation, and one about how society shuns those with infectious diseases. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2013, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-childrens-programming-with-depth-or-at-least-a-modicum-of-charm/668359/67 "2013-09-13T00:11:09Z")
I liked _Jane and the Dragon_ well enough. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2013, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-childrens-programming-with-depth-or-at-least-a-modicum-of-charm/668359/68 "2013-09-13T16:10:39Z")
> [@robert\_columbia](#): > > One Canadian show I fondly remember is Avonlea. At some level it looks like another vapid sitcom but with Victorian costumes and a vaguely-Cape Cod/New England fishing village-esque setting, but it had a surprising number of “very special episode” type stories that weren’t that cheesy. Not surprising, given [the origin](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L.M._Montgomery#Works) (1911, '12, '13, and '20). ---
**Author:** ![chargerrich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chargerrich/32/5399_2.png) [@chargerrich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chargerrich)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2013, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-childrens-programming-with-depth-or-at-least-a-modicum-of-charm/668359/69 "2013-09-13T17:11:47Z")
Meet Special Agent OSO… the unique stuffed bear! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Lacunae\_Matata](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8491ac/32.png) [@Lacunae\_Matata](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lacunae_Matata)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2013, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-childrens-programming-with-depth-or-at-least-a-modicum-of-charm/668359/70 "2013-09-13T19:55:25Z")
At 3.5 and 19 months, Lily and Michelle both like Pokoyu and Peep and the Big Wide World, and I find both shows rather charming. Both air on our digital PBS Kids channel, back to back and in the early afternoon, so they’re a perfect half-hour break for me! ---
**Author:** ![ekedolphin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ekedolphin/32/10003_2.png) [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2013, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-childrens-programming-with-depth-or-at-least-a-modicum-of-charm/668359/71 "2013-09-13T20:08:58Z")
_Kim Possible, Between the Lions; Batman: The Animated Series._ ---
**Author:** ![April\_R](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@April\_R](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/April_R)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2013, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-childrens-programming-with-depth-or-at-least-a-modicum-of-charm/668359/72 "2013-09-13T21:37:33Z")
> [@Jragon](#): > > I’m not too fond of a lot of their one-off episodes (especially the earlier ones), but KND had the weirdest talent for taking the stupidest and strangest concepts and making the most compelling, complex, and interesting multi-season plots around them. It was the episode where they were encouraging kids to eat candy and have rotten teeth and not ever brush their teeth and the bad guy was somebody that wanted them to have clean teeth and would attack them and brush their teeth forcibly for them , that’s when they lost me because it was really gross. When they show the kids next door open their mouths with the rotten and yellow plaque incrusted teeth, I wanted to retch ---
**Author:** ![April\_R](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@April\_R](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/April_R)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2013, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-childrens-programming-with-depth-or-at-least-a-modicum-of-charm/668359/73 "2013-09-13T21:43:41Z")
> [@robert\_columbia](#): > > Also, MCoG is also interesting in that one of the Native characters who ends up being part of the hero team goes the entire story wearing what looks like a Native American-styled version of a girl’s dress or gown even though he is a boy. Nobody in the story thinks this is unusual in any way, which indicates that the writers or artists may have realized that gender distinctions in dress are very culture-specific and 20th (or even 19th) century Anglo standards simply would not apply in any meaningful way in this sort of story. [Mysterious Cities of Gold](http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&redir_esc=&client=ms-android-att-us&source=android-browser-type&v=141400000&qsubts=1379108425094&action=devloc&q=Mysterious+Cities+of+Gold) This show looks cool. I must have missed it when I was a kid. The characters are drawn similar to Gundam. I assume it is originally a Japanese cartoon? ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2013, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-childrens-programming-with-depth-or-at-least-a-modicum-of-charm/668359/74 "2013-09-13T22:25:19Z")
> [@Lacunae\_Matata](#): > > At 3.5 and 19 months, Lily and Michelle both like Pokoyu and Peep and the Big Wide World, and I find both shows rather charming. Both air on our digital PBS Kids channel, back to back and in the early afternoon, so they’re a perfect half-hour break for me! Yeah, my 3.5 year old son loves Pokoyu. Also the Fresh Beat Band and Team Umizoomi. I’m not sure how much depth a three year old is equipped to handle, but they’re great for him. ---
**Author:** ![bmoak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9dc877/32.png) [@bmoak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bmoak)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2013, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-childrens-programming-with-depth-or-at-least-a-modicum-of-charm/668359/75 "2013-09-14T02:56:29Z")
> [@robert\_columbia](#): > > Also, MCoG is also interesting in that one of the Native characters who ends up being part of the hero team goes the entire story wearing what looks like a Native American-styled version of a girl’s dress or gown even though he is a boy. Nobody in the story thinks this is unusual in any way, which indicates that the writers or artists may have realized that gender distinctions in dress are very culture-specific and 20th (or even 19th) century Anglo standards simply would not apply in any meaningful way in this sort of story. ??? Pao is wearing a type of serape. I never once thought he was wearing girl’s clothing, anymore than I thought that the monks and friars in the early episodes were wearing women’s clothing. Anyway, the Mysterious Cities of Gold was probably the last cartoon I really got excited about as a kid and I used to run home from school to see it. I still think it had one of the best cartoon [opening sequences](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lfb_BBnXFHw) ever. Mysterious Cities of Gold was a Japanese/French co-production, as was Ulysses31, another underrated/underexposed show of the early 80s. And looking this up, I find that new episodes are being aired in France as we speak (it was a very popular show in Europe). Looks like they picked up where the original series left off, flying across the Pacific in the golden condor. [New trailer.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jwvr6Lwhzyg) ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2013, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-childrens-programming-with-depth-or-at-least-a-modicum-of-charm/668359/76 "2013-09-14T07:02:04Z")
> [@LinusK](#): > > But they’re all pretty vapid anyway, if terrifically obsessively non-violent, and politically correct. Not politically correct enough for me. Disney channel (shows like Wizards of Waverly Place) normalizes and jokes about bullying: it is the central storyline/“humour” of many if not most of their programming, and it is not condemed or corrected. Is that what school was like for you? Is that what your kids experience now? No wonder they think it’s normal, brought up on that diet. ---
**Author:** ![April\_R](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@April\_R](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/April_R)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2013, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-childrens-programming-with-depth-or-at-least-a-modicum-of-charm/668359/77 "2013-09-15T05:06:13Z")
Does anyone here remember Pirates of Dark Water > **[Amazon.com: Pirates Of Dark Water (4 Disc) : Don Lusk, Paul Sommer, Jodi Benson,...](https://www.amazon.com/Pirates-Dark-Water-4-Disc/dp/B0042I6528)** > > High adventure awaits those courageous enough to join this misfit crew as they sail the mysterious 20 seas surrounding the alien world of Mer. Led by the young prince Ren, these unlikely heroes follow an enchanted compass through dangers beyond their... One of my faves ---
**Author:** ![Zjestika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/8edcca/32.png) [@Zjestika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zjestika)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2013, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-childrens-programming-with-depth-or-at-least-a-modicum-of-charm/668359/78 "2013-09-16T02:01:33Z")
Adventure Time is the best. My husband watches it with our 17 month old. While it was on Netflix we watched all the Sesame Street episodes available and I have to say the beginning 10-15 minutes in the neighborhood was really enjoyable for me. My daughter loves Elmo, and Murray or the flying fairy school parts, which are certainly good, but for my money the Mine-itis episode from season 39 was one of the more amusing things I’ve seen in a while. ---
**Author:** ![chacoguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/50afbb/32.png) [@chacoguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chacoguy)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2013, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-childrens-programming-with-depth-or-at-least-a-modicum-of-charm/668359/79 "2013-09-16T03:25:05Z")
[Mr. Rodger’s Neighborhood.](http://pbskids.org/rogers/) You could do worse. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-childrens-programming-with-depth-or-at-least-a-modicum-of-charm/668359.md?page=3)